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Do Any of Y'all Play a Short Scale Guitar?

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Old Man Arthur
Posted 2011-02-08 6:24 PM (#356215)
Subject: Do Any of Y'all Play a Short Scale Guitar?



Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 10777

Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR		And will playing a 22.5" scale guitar totally destroy my "Muscle Memory"?

I picked-up a teeny guitar with a short neck.
If I don't watch what I am doing I can easily jump an extra fret.

Is this a good thing? Will this help my skills.
I am still a beginner, and probably will be till the day I die.

This is the item that I am referring to...


See? It is alittle short. ZZ Ryder ME2 Empire (Page10)

So... Do any of y'all switch to a short scale guitar?
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ProfessorBB
Posted 2011-02-08 6:51 PM (#356216 - in reply to #356215)
Subject: Re: Do Any of Y'all Play a Short Scale Guitar?



Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 5881

Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains		That's pretty short. May help on some chords that stretch four frets down low. Fender Jaguars are 24" scale and a Hamer Improv and Les Paul are both 24.75". These are the shortest I have and I switch back and forth with longer necks (25.5" typically) without difficulty. At 22.5", you'll probably notice the difference. Hope you have small hands.
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FlySig
Posted 2011-02-08 7:20 PM (#356217 - in reply to #356215)
Subject: Re: Do Any of Y'all Play a Short Scale Guitar?



Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4081

Location: Utah		I've got a short scale MWoody creation, the 12 string electric ePap12. I don't think it will mess with your muscle memory at all. It tunes to A, so the chords are in a different place, which in a way it is a good mental exercise to transpose on the fly. And it allows a whole new sound, sort of like a mandolin, without learning a whole new instrument. In any case, the difference in fret distance doesn't mess me up going back to a normal guitar.

So I say have fun with it!

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Darkbar
Posted 2011-02-08 7:51 PM (#356218 - in reply to #356215)
Subject: Re: Do Any of Y'all Play a Short Scale Guitar?



Joined:
January 2009
Posts: 4536

Location: Flahdaw
Originally posted by ProfessorBB:
Hope you have small hands.
I've seen OMA without a shirt on. You know what they say..."small hands equals small breasts"
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numbfingers
Posted 2011-02-08 8:35 PM (#356219 - in reply to #356215)
Subject: Re: Do Any of Y'all Play a Short Scale Guitar?


Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 1132

Location: NW Washington State		I had a nightmare that OMA was playing guitar while wearing your shirt. Or was he painting a guitar while wearing your shirt? Anyway, it was awful.
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numbfingers
Posted 2011-02-08 8:45 PM (#356220 - in reply to #356215)
Subject: Re: Do Any of Y'all Play a Short Scale Guitar?


Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 1132

Location: NW Washington State		I don't think you'll have a problem with the shorter scale. I sound equally bad with any guitar, but I don't have a special problem with short scales. Switching from a narrow neck to a wide one seems more difficult.

If you're using standard tuning, you might try relatively heavy strings like 11-52 on your shortscale.

Here are a Fender "Strat Jr." (22.75" scale) and a Matsumoku "Quest" travel guitar (about 21" scale) with a full-size Carvin for comparison.



-Steve W.
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Damon67
Posted 2011-02-08 9:12 PM (#356221 - in reply to #356215)
Subject: Re: Do Any of Y'all Play a Short Scale Guitar?



Joined:
December 2006
Posts: 6996

Location: Jet City		Does this one count as short scale? Really it's an octave neck.

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Bluebird
Posted 2011-02-08 9:42 PM (#356222 - in reply to #356215)
Subject: Re: Do Any of Y'all Play a Short Scale Guitar?



Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 1445

Location: Nova Scotia, Canada		Now THAT's a cool guitar!
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Old Man Arthur
Posted 2011-02-08 10:06 PM (#356223 - in reply to #356215)
Subject: Re: Do Any of Y'all Play a Short Scale Guitar?



Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 10777

Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR		Basically I got the ZZ Ryder as a Play-Outside-in-the-Rain guitar.
My Traveler has a Twin-Rail Pickup... The ZZ Ryder has a Twin and a Quad-Rail!


Here is a Full-sized fretboard (Traveler) and the 22.5" Fretboard...


So you gain about a fret-and-a-half between Zero and Twelve.
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BruDeV
Posted 2011-02-08 10:13 PM (#356224 - in reply to #356215)
Subject: Re: Do Any of Y'all Play a Short Scale Guitar?


Joined:
January 2003
Posts: 1498

Location: San Bernardino, California		I've had no problem adjusting back and forth between scale lengths, but I also play the bass, so that might be the reason.

Try it with .008 strings and tune up to an A. That gives it somewhat of a mandolin sound.

- numbfingers: If you ever want to sell the Quest, let me know. I've been looking for both the guitar and bass versions.

-OMA: you can coil tap the bridge pickup by pulling up on the tone knob.
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numbfingers
Posted 2011-02-08 11:18 PM (#356225 - in reply to #356215)
Subject: Re: Do Any of Y'all Play a Short Scale Guitar?


Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 1132

Location: NW Washington State		Brudev-

I'll keep you in mind on the Quest. I thought I'd try a couple of small guitars since my grip is weak. Not sure if it will help or if I really need it. It's a good quality guitar like other Matsumoku stuff from the early '80s. There was/is a really nice Quest mini bass on eBay in the last few days. Couldn't bring myself to bid on it since I don't play the Aria medium-scale bass I have.

-Steve W.
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Waskel
Posted 2011-02-09 7:55 AM (#356226 - in reply to #356215)
Subject: Re: Do Any of Y'all Play a Short Scale Guitar?



Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840

Location: closely held secret		That Traveler reminds me of a joke I heard recently...
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Old Man Arthur
Posted 2011-02-09 9:19 AM (#356227 - in reply to #356215)
Subject: Re: Do Any of Y'all Play a Short Scale Guitar?



Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 10777

Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR
posted by Waskel:
That Traveler reminds me of a joke I heard recently...
Well c'mon... Don't be shy.
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Waskel
Posted 2011-02-09 9:25 AM (#356228 - in reply to #356215)
Subject: Re: Do Any of Y'all Play a Short Scale Guitar?



Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840

Location: closely held secret		Two gentlemen are conversing over a beer in their local pub,...

No, better not.
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G8r
Posted 2011-02-09 9:30 AM (#356229 - in reply to #356215)
Subject: Re: Do Any of Y'all Play a Short Scale Guitar?


Joined:
November 2006
Posts: 3969

Know your audience.
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Waskel
Posted 2011-02-09 9:33 AM (#356230 - in reply to #356215)
Subject: Re: Do Any of Y'all Play a Short Scale Guitar?



Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840

Location: closely held secret		Exactly.
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Beal
Posted 2011-02-09 10:28 AM (#356231 - in reply to #356215)
Subject: Re: Do Any of Y'all Play a Short Scale Guitar?



Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127

Location: 6 String Ranch		22.5
Kinda like capo 2.
next?
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